German printed patent publication DE 103 04 126 A1, for example, discusses an electronic device for measuring a tire tread depth and a pressure loss of a vehicle tire, a reference value of a distance traveled being compared to the wheel revolutions of an ABS wheel speedometer sensor system and the actual tire diameter and the tread depth being inferred on the basis of correlation algorithms. A disadvantage is that this method and respectively this device is too inaccurate to allow for a comparatively precise and reliable determination of the vehicle tire tread depth.